Phantoms Warm Up: Lehigh Valley vs Charlotte 2/22/19 Game Preview

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms head south for the first time this season as they face a pair of games against the Charlotte Checkers this weekend, beginning with a Friday-night contest at 7:00 p.m. inside of Bojangles’ Coliseum. Friday’s match up will mark the third meeting between the two teams this season and the first time the two have played each other since November 14 when the Phantoms scored a 3-2 overtime victory inside of PPL Center.

Similar to the 2017-18 season, which saw Lehigh Valley post a 4-4-0-0 record against Charlotte, the Phantoms currently hold a split record of 1-1-0-0 against the Checkers this season.

The first-place Checkers, who have recently cooled off in their past 10 games while holding a record of 4-3-2-1 over that time, are coming off a 7-3 thrashing at the hands of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers this past Sunday.  Similarly, the Phantoms will also be looking to get back into the win column after coming up on the wrong end of a 4-3 decision against the Hershey Bears.

Phantoms at Charlotte Checkers

Phantoms Leading Scorers

  1. Greg Carey (52 GP, 23G-26A, 49 PTS)
  2. Chris Conner (50 GP, 12G-25A, 37 PTS)
  3. T.J. Brennan (44 GP, 8G-29A, 37 PTS)
  4. Mike Vecchione (53 GP, 11G-20A, 31 PTS)
  5. Byron Froese (48 GP, 14G-16A, 30 PTS)

Checkers Leading Scorers

  1. Andrew Poturalski (55 GP, 18G-31A, 49 PTS)
  2. Aleksi Saarela (52GP, 17G-20A, 37 PTS)
  3. Janne Kuokkanen (44 GP, 11G-24A, 35 PTS)
  4. Jake Bean (54 GP, 10G-23A, 33 PTS)
  5. Martin Necas (45 GP, 9G-22A, 31 PTS)

Prior Meetings This Season

Nov. 14 — LV 3, CHA 2
Nov. 10 — CHA 7, LV 4

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Snap Shots

  • T.J. Brennan currently leads the Phantoms against the Checkers in scoring this season with three points (1G-2A) in just two contests, which includes the overtime game-winning goal against Charlotte in the two team’s last meeting on November 14.
  • In the two prior meetings this season, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms penalty kill has managed to keep the Checkers off the board 11 out of 11 times while on the man advantage.
  • During the 2017-18 season, forwards Greg Carey (3G-3A) and Nic Aube-Kubel (2G-4A) led the way for the Orange and Black against the Checkers with six points each in eight contests.
  • Last season, goaltender Alex Lyon posted a 2-1-0 record with a 2.35 goals-against average and a 0.926 save percentage against the Checkers during the regular season.  In the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs, Lyon held a perfect 4-0-0 record against Charlotte with an exceptional 0.73 GAA and a 0.979 save percentage.

Players to Watch

T.J. Brennan scored the overtime game-winning goal against the Charlotte Checkers the last time the two teams played on November 14 and currently leads the Phantoms charge against the Checkers this season with three points (1G-2A) in just two games.

Corban Knight will likely return to the Phantoms lineup after missing this past Sunday’s game against Hershey.  Knight is currently riding a three-game point streak in which he has two goals and three assists for five points and has already recorded two multi-point contests this season.

Recent Transactions

February 19, 2019: The Philadelphia Flyers recalled goaltender Brian Elliott from his conditioning loan with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms

February 21, 2019: The Philadelphia Flyers loaned goaltender Mike McKenna to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms

February 21, 2019: The Lehigh Valley Phantoms loaned goaltender Branden Komm to the Reading Royals

The Road Ahead

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms will rematch against the Charlotte Checkers tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. before closing out the weekend down south.